Hoshigumi - Watashi ni!
by Jikariel
Summary: A spinoff of ST, starting on August 20th, 2002, and continuing for god knows how long, a few years maybe...it contains all my own characters, apart from a few cameo appearances. Chapter 3 now up! Read and review!
1. Default Chapter

_Hoshigumi - Watashi Ni! _

**Author's notes, disclaimer and all that crap: I don't own Sakura Taisen or any of the characters from the original games. However, I have created almost every single one of the major characters in this fanfiction, so if you use them without permission, then may Dave Robertson repeatedly hit you over the head with a big axe. Flame me if you want, I'll just flame right back at ya. I don't own the rights to any songs in this fic, whether I type out the lyrics or just name them – there is no way that I'll publish my own songs until I get them copyrighted.  And yes, Kaede Ichirou is the granddaughter of Ougami and Kaede Fujieda, just in case I don't remember to mention it. Rated PG-13 for gratuitous strong language whenever Dave gets pissed off. There may be Yuri or lemon/lime or both, or anything along those general lines, although only if the characters get completely out of my control. Read and review, and see if it makes a difference in hell. **

**Thanks to anyone who deserves it.  If you think you had something to do with this, then just pretend I thanked you personally.**

His Grace Colonel the Duke Vincent von Valentine of Askar. 

Dave Robertson listened to the announcement over the London Stansted Airport PA system. "Bloody finally," he muttered and headed over to the arrivals area. As the passenger left the plane, he watched for the girl he was supposed to be meeting. Finally, he spotted somebody fitting her description – tall, thin, long black hair - and approached her. 

"Excuse me, are you," he consulted the piece of paper that Kaede Ichirou, his commanding officer, had given him, "Jennifer Catherine Stephenson?" 

"I am. Why?" 

"Lieutenant David Robertson, International Anti-Demon Defence Force, Star Unit, at your service. I'm to provide transport to the headquarters, and hopefully the government will eventually repay me for all the petrol I've used up ferrying people around the bloody capital all hours of the day and night…sorry, I'm rambling. Here's my ID." He showed her a plastic card, and she nodded and smiled. 

"Thank you." Dave led her to the short-stay car park and then to a black 1957 Cadillac decorated with bright orange flames and a phoenix hood ornament. He got in and Jenny followed suite, nervously. 

"Mind if I play music?" 

"No, it's your car…" she murmured as she gripped the sides of the seat. Dave glanced at her and seemed to remember something. He flicked a switch on the dashboard and Jenny sighed with relief. 

"G-force dampening, Tenbu strength. Now, where was I…oh, yeah. Music." He turned on the CD player and almost immediately, four bars of organ music reverberated around the car. 

"Oh, this one's good.   Perry Mason," exclaimed Jennifer. 

"_You_ like _Ozzy Osbourne_? Kid, I like you already!" 

"Wait, it doesn't sound exactly like Ozzy, the voice is too deep." 

"Vocals - D Robertson. Lead and rhythm guitars - D Robertson. Bass - D Robertson. Drums - D Robertson. Keyboards and synthesisers - D Robertson." 

"How'd you play three guitars, a keyboard, the drums and sing at the same time?" 

"I didn't. I recorded the drums, and then the bass, rhythm guitar, keyboard, lead guitar and vocals, then used a computer to mix them together, and then saved them to a CD. I've never managed to put a band together, so I just DJ for school disco's and stuff." 

"I notice you did the riff on bass guitar instead of keyboards like it is on the album." 

"Yeah, I saw the live performance of it at Ozzfest '96, and it sounds better." 

"Definitely." They completed the rest of the journey in silence, broken only by one or both of them joining in during a chorus or guitar solo. Finally, Dave turned a corner into a small car park, and found the way forwards blocked by a limousine. 

"Oi! Bugger off, you bloody arseholes, this is bloody government bloody property! I could bloody well have you bloody arrested!" Finally, a chauffeur stepped out, looked down his nose at Dave and Jenny and opened the door of the passenger compartment. A girl of about thirteen stepped out primly, wearing a purple kimono that looked as if it could fall of at any second. 

"Oh, it's _you_, is it?" he growled. "_You_ are late." The girl gestured at the chauffeur. 

"Oeauwa, didn't you knoeauwa there was a traffic jam?" 

"A whole bloody week late!" exploded Dave. "In case you didn't realise, Reiko Kanzaki, we have a planet to save here! If you're gonna take after your bloody grandmother with the whole bloody Prima Donna thing, then you can just bloody well forget it! You can bloody well go home now! Now get inside!" 

"How dare you talk to me like that? Don't you know who I am? With one phone call, I could have you busted so low you'd have to say "sir" to a janitor! My grandmother supplies all of my team's equipment, and if she tells the government she's going to withdraw supplies because of you, you know what they'd choose! They'd-" 

 "In case you didn't realise, it isn't your team. This unit's commander is the overall force commander and an ex officio Cabinet member, making her answerable directly to the Prime Minister, and if your grandmother wants to cause the end of the world then so be it, she can be arrested for treason against Japan.  And you can get your worthless arse inside _NOW_!"  Jenny glared at Reiko from the car.  "You," said Dave to the chauffeur, "can go.  Don't bother coming back, you won't be needed.  Bye," he finished, his voice heavy with sarcasm.  "Come on, Jenny, you needed to meet you team-mates."  He gestured towards the glass door of the building they were standing in front of.  Suddenly she realised where they were: Greenwich, in the car park of the _Millennium Dome_.  Still staring at the huge building, Jenny got out of the car and walked inside.  Before she got there, however, Dave stopped her and lead her around the huge building to where several prefabricated buildings were arranged around a central area – "Male sleeping quarters," "Female sleeping quarters," "Living area," "Mech bay," and several others, including a greenhouse.  Dave saw her looking at it.

"Mine.  I grow plants and play music to them."   A young woman, about Dave's age, ran up to them.  She wore a tartan kilt, a Sex Pistols t-shirt and a tartan sweatband with wires leading off it.  She looked at Jenny, flipped a lens from the band down over her eye, tapped a button on the control box on her belt, and began muttering seemingly meaningless numbers.

"Sarah, can it wait?  I'm supposed to introduce her to the rest of the team first…"

"Oh, of course.  _OI!  YOU LOT!  GET YOUR ARSES OVER HERE NOW!"  _About ten people ran from the buildings.  Dave introduced them one by one:

"Vladimir Ivanivich Rybczynski, our hitman.  From the state of his lipstick, I'm guessing Maria Gonzalez is around, but I can't see her…" Vlad nodded at her.  "Um, Reiko you've met, she's the granddaughter of Sumire Kanzaki, from the original Flower Team.  Wilhelmina Paöle, our medic and expert on the paranormal and occult."  Wilhelmina smiled slightly at Jenny.  "Sarah Macadam, our mechanic and resident nutter."  Sarah gave a sarcastic one-fingered salute.  "The Terrible Twins, Jessica and Rebecca White – Jess has an IQ of over 200, and Becky knows every battle in the past two millennia like the back of her hand."  The twins pretended to blush.

"Stop it Dave, you're embarrassing us."

"Gendo Kamijin, our telepath – he can communicate with any of us from anywhere in the world, which reminds me, any news of the General?"  Gendo shook his head, and gave Jenny a warm smile.  "And finally, Maria Gonzalez, easily capable of taking Sarah's title of Resident Nutcase away from her, if she didn't speak less English than my hamster."

"Ees no true, I talking bery hood Eenglish.  Ees no hood you say I talking bery bad Eenglish, ees no true."

"Chui-sama, the Taichou's on her way back from the Houses of Parliament," Gendo said.  "Give her a minute, she says.  Apparently you're early."

"The Houses of Parliament are about five kilometres away!  How's she going to get here that fast, especially in rush hour?" asked Jenny incredulously.

"Who said she was _driving_ back?" smirked Gendo.  Jenny was about to reply when a 12-foot robot landed in the car park, skidded towards them and screeched to a halt beside them.

"Jennifer, meet your main weapon, _and_ your commanding officer."  The front swung down and a woman with long brown hair stepped out.

"Hi.  I'm Kaede Ichirou.  General Ichirou to most people, but you can call me Kaede.  This team's not like other military units, it works much better if we're friendly.  Can't do Combination Attacks with someone you're scared of, can you?"  Jenny smiled, and went to look around. Soon, the Twins approached her. **Author's Note:  Yes, it _does_ deserve the capital letter, in the same way as Them often does.**  

"Hello," she said, warily.

"Hi," they said in unison.

"Um, do you really have an IQ of over 200?"

"Yes, she does," said one twin.  "She could tell you what day of the week it was on May 13th one hundred years ago."

"Tuesday," replied the other.  "And no, it's only 198."

"Did you know Gendo likes you?" asked Rebecca.

"Does he?" asked Jenny, amazed.

"He smiled at you," replied Jessica.  "He likes you a_ lot_."

"He isn't a very friendly person.  If he thinks you're alright, he glares at you.  We don't know what he does if he hates you."

"Probably wipes out the entire population of Norway," supplied Jessica.

"And how many is that?"

"4, 324,815 in 1994," replied Jessica before she could stop herself.  "DAMN!  Stop doing that!"

"Sorry," giggled Becky.

"Um, how can I tell you apart?"

"Easy.  Becky always looks like she's plotting something," said Jess.

"Because I am.  And Jess always looks bemused," said Becky.

"Because I am."

"Excuse me.  Would you like to train, Jennifer?" asked Gendo.

"How did you do that?" asked Jennifer

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on us?"

"Ninja no michi," he replied mysteriously.  "Well? Training?"

"Yeah, okay."

"You start tomorrow."  He walked off towards the Male Quarters.

"Jenny," came a Scots voice.  "You'd better synch with your Mech now, cause if Gendo's training you, you won't have time in the next few weeks."

"Okay," she shouted back.

"I'm in the Mech Bay," called back Sarah.  Jenny walked over to the large shed, in which were about twenty large, bizarre-looking robots which she recognised as modified Tenbu units.  Some of them were painted, but at least half were steel grey.  Sarah gestured to one.  "Get in, then."  The top opened and the front swung down as Kaede's had, and Jennifer climbed inside.  It sealed itself behind her.

"Right, initialise the BRL," came Sarah's voice over the speakers.

"What?"

"Pull the big red lever," replied Sarah resignedly.  "I never get to use technical terms!" she complained.

"Right…done it."

"Okay, now pull the metal ring down over your shoulders and put your arms and legs in the sockets provided."

"…Done."

"Now close your eyes and count to ten."  A low thrumming sound could be heard, in time with her mental count.

"Now open them."

"WOAH!"  Instead of a cushioned steel plate, Jennifer was seeing through the Mech's eyes – two cameras mounted on the front of the Mechs "head."

"I take it you succeeded in synchronising with your Armour Unit."

"Wow…"  Jennifer moved her arm, and the Mech's arm moved with it.

"The Mech doubles your height, increases your strength by about fifty times, and has the same walking and running speed as a human.  Plus, it can fly, at Mach 1-1.5 unaided, Mach 4-5 with the booster jet unit."

"How does it work?"

"Well, you know it's said that a human only uses ten percent of his or her brain?"

"Yeah?"

"In Spirit-talented people, that other ninety percent produces as much energy as a nuclear reactor in any given time.  Only a small amount, less than ten percent, is needed for the Mech, and the rest is boosted and used for psychic attacks.  The boosting – beaming the energy through a super-cooled diamond lens – means your psychic strength is doubled while in your mech.  Now, enable the BGD."

"What?"

"Big Green Dial.  Twist it to the left…bet you're glad I didn't say knob, aren't you?"

"I'm just wondering who you went out with – a well-hung leper?"  Outside the Mech, Sarah sweatdropped.

"Hah.  Hah," came a different voice.  "That was humourous."

"Who are you?" asked Jennifer.

"I am Spirit Armour Unit 00011.  Your mech.  Specify name."

"Um…Falcon?"

"Acceptable.  Choose colloquial accent."

"What are my choices?"

"BBC English, Sunderland, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cockney, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Australian, American, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Other."

"Um…other?"

"Specify area or person, real or fictional, to search for sound recording of."

"Ozzy Osbourne."

"Searching…"

"How long will this-"

"Searching…"

"Take?"

"Done.  Activating…testing.  Alright!  We're gonna do…Paranoid!  Right, I'm done," said Falcon in a different voice – Ozzy's voice.  "What colour d'ya want me?"

"Blue."

"Ice blue, royal blue, or navy blue?"

"Royal blue."  With a whir, arms came down, spraying the Mech with paint with pinpoint accuracy.

"Now, Jenny," said Sarah, having recovered from Jenny's rarely seen sense of humour.  "Walk around a bit, wave your arms, dance, stuff like that."  Jenny took a few steps forward, span through 360 degrees and moonwalked back into her original position.

"EVERYBODY!  FOOOOOOOOD!  COMER MI PAELLA, ¿SI?" screamed Maria at the top of her lungs.  Sarah scowled.

"Better hurry up or she'll het- sorry, _get_ – annoyed."  They did so and the rest of the evening was spent with everyone getting to know everyone else and trying to work out what the suspicious spheres of unmentionable gristle in the paella were – sheep's eyeballs or…_not_ sheep's _eyeballs_.

_BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_  Jennifer fell out of bed the next morning, stood up, put on a dressing gown and went to answer the door.  She didn't dare look at the clock – she wasn't sure what time sunrise was on August 21, but it hadn't happened yet.  She wasn't even sure it _was_ August 21 yet.  For all she knew, it was still yesterday.

"Yes?"

"It's time for training.  Hurry up and get ready."

"It's still dark!"

"Demons don't sleep."

"They won't have a choice in the matter if they wake me up this early.  Come in and wait on the couch."  Gendo did so.  "And don't try to peek!"

"Of course not."  A few minutes later, Jennifer came back out of her bedroom, fully dressed.

"Alright, what did you see?"

"Nothing.  You said not to peek.

"You're telling me that you, a teenage boy, were in the next room to a naked teenage girl, and you didn't watch?  Are you real?"  Gendo nodded, and to prove a point, headbutted the wall, promptly knocking himself out.  **Author's note: He could have done it without knocking himself out, but she would be less likely to believe he was real then, wouldn't she?**

Several minutes later, Gendo woke himself up and lead her around the Dome to the Hoshigumi's temporary gym.  He allowed her to pick a weapon – a broadsword – and gave her a warning.

"You'll be training almost non-stop for the next week or so.  You may want to take a break because you are either: hungry, tired, injured or dead.  Only one of these is acceptable, and it isn't death."  A long pause.  Then:

"Well?  Which one is it?"  Gendo sweatdropped.  This was not the answer he was expecting.  Most people he had trained had complained about this state of affairs.

"It was a joke," he stated coldly.  "All of the above will be taken into account, and I will teach you ninja techniques to deal with the first three.  Unfortunately, when the ninja sensei developing reincarnation techniques killed himself to test his theory, it was discovered that it was less than effective."

Gendo was true to his word.  Jennifer discovered that she could heal minor injuries and go without sleep or food for longer than before her training started, as well as being able to hold her own in battle.  Unfortunately, her training took up all her free time until the day before school started.  Soon after she left the gymnasium on the morning of Monday, September 9th, a new sound was heard over Greenwich.

_BREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEPBREEP!_

_____________________________________________________________________

**And there it is, chapter one.  R+R, people.  Chapter 2 coming up… **


	2. Late Summer is the time for first battle...

_Hoshigumi - Watashi Ni! _

The team sprinted towards the Mech Bay and clambered into their respective units.

"Okay everyone, check in!" shouted Sarah.

"Kaede – Rouko –Check!"

"Dave – Phoenix – Check!"

"Johanna – Tepes – Check!"

"Gendo – Oniisama – Check!"

"Sarah – Ranger – Check!"

"Maria – Malaga – Check!"

"Vlad – Lenin – Check!"

"Jenny – Falcon – Check!"

"Jess – White Tiger – Check!"

"Becky – White Panther – Check!"

"Reiko – Windblade – Check."

"Hoshigumi – GEKI!"  Each Mech took off, crashing through the roof of the shed, which had not been provided with an opening, and followed Kaede.

"Where are we headed, Kaede?" asked Dave.

"An island off the coast of Madagascar.  It's right in the demon's path towards Africa.  Watch out, they're flying!"  The team flew for about half an hour in almost total silence, interrupted periodically by Sarah and Gendo giving ETAs for themselves and the demon horde.

"I see them!" called Reiko excitedly, before remembering her façade of complete boredom.

"Well done," commented Gendo sardonically.  "Twenty feet long and right in front of us, and you spot them.  Your powers of observation rival those of Sherlock Holmes."  Kaede mentally glared at him, as did Jennifer.

"Right, get ready!" shouted Dave as the first demon approached.  Wasting no time, the team got stuck in, smeeting, smiting and smoting demons right left and centre.  Many of them landed on the island.  Dave turned to see a large group of them flying in formation towards him, and knew what he had to do.  Levelling his shoulder cannons, he spread his arms slightly.

"FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK!" he screamed in a bizarrely squeaky voice.  A huge volley of missiles streaked towards the demons, and when the smoke cleared, they saw another five corpses land on the island.

"Where getting adverse weather conditions – heavy fog!  Switch to IR lens," instructed Sarah.  Before she had a chance to ask how, Jenny realised she already had done, just by thinking about it.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at a white object floating above the island.  A voice made itself heard in all their minds:

"Chaos…THEORY!"  The fog cleared, revealing the demons hovering in a line.  Their mouths started moving, and more voices were heard, apparently singing "You Are The Sunshine In My Life," in a passable impression of Bing Crosby.

"If I told you I saw demons singing," asked Dave levelly, "What would you do?"  No-one answered.  Then,

"Agree?" asked Kaede.

"That was a Surekill attack," Gendo informed them.  "Powerful.  From the attack line, I'm guessing it causes unlikely things to happen to the target or targets.  And that floating white thing is a human.  I'll try to make contact."

"No need," said a voice in his head.  He recognised it as the one that had performed the Surekill attack.  

"Who are you?"

"Maikeru Raichi.  What about you?"

"Gendo Kamijin.  Where are you from?"

"My parents were killed in a plane crash on this island six years ago.  My cat and I were the only survivors."

"And before that?"

"My parents were British.  I was born in Osaka."

"And what triggered your Surekill attack?" Gendo asked, remembering his training for situations when a potentially friendly Spirit-talented person was encountered.

"A corpse just killed my cat, and destroyed my parents' graves."

"Well, stay where you are, and I'll come and get you," Gendo said, relaying the conversation to his team-mates.

Back at the Dome, Maiku related his story to the team.

"…And the rest you know.  But could you explain about the demons?"

"I want to know about that, as well.  I thought they were defeated once and for all, seventy odd years ago," said Jennifer.

"Well, last year's terrorist attacks on America…when they finally cleared away all the rubble and dug the planes out, they discovered that the bodies of the hijackers…weren't human.  Once a full autopsy was performed, it was found that they were definitely demons.  Then, in March, a fighter plane was detected heading towards Washington DC.  US aircraft sent to intercept it were…"

"Eaten," finished Dave.  "The UN dug out all its old Armour Units from the Cold War, when they believed that Communism was related with demons-"

"That's just stupid!" burst out Jenny.

"Not so.  Who benefited when Russia pulled out of the first Inter-World War because of the revolution?  The demons.  Anyway, they contacted Kaede and the rest of the survivors and descendants of the Imperial Floral Assault Team, who set about building this base.  Unfortunately, they haven't finished yet, although, thankfully, Kouran's team managed to finish the new-model Armour Units.  Not bad for a 100-odd year old woman, eh?  They had to keep her away from the labs in case she killed herself, like, but still.."

"Maikeru," said Wilhelmina, entering the room, "I have a place in the local school's Sixth Form.  From what you said, I think you should to handle A-level work.

"Which reminds me – you, you, you, you, you, you, and you," gesturing to the seven under-18 year olds, "– bed.  It's ten o'clock, and you have school in the morning."

"But-" began Maiku.

"Don't bother," Vlad informed him.  "I'm a year older than you, and if she won't let me off she won't let you off – and she _won't_ let you off."  Taking the hint, they left.

___________________________________________________________________

**And there is Chapter two for you.  Short I know, but I have certain points where I'll change chapter, and I didn't write as much as I thought I would need to.  **


	3. New Allies and a New Enemy

_Hoshigumi - Watashi Ni! _

Early the next morning, Jennifer staggered into the communal area of the building and slumped in a chair.  She stared at the wall for a few minutes, then determinedly got up and walked into the kitchen.  Maiku was already in there.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi…d'you want a drink?"  He shook his head.  "Is something the matter?"  He shook his head again.  "Don't lie to me.  I can tell when someone lies to me.  It's their aura, or something.  It goes red."

"It doesn't matter," he said, somewhat forcefully.

"Do you want me to have to beat you up?  Tell me."

"N-"

"Tell me."

"N-"

"Tell."

"N-"

"Ah?"

"N-"

"Tell me."  He glared at her.

"NO!"  Wisps of fog formed around him.  Jennifer glowed to counter his threat.  More fog appeared, and Jenny shot out a hand to one side, in which her sword appeared.  Twin katanas appeared in a puff of fog in Maiku's hands.  Jenny passed her own sword to her left hand, then translocated Yuugasa no Tenshi into her right, nearly bursting a blood vessel in an attempt to bypass Gendo's protections. It vibrated uncomfortably in her hand.  A few seconds later, Gendo appeared.

"What the hell is going on?  Why have you got my sword?  Jenny, you know we're not supposed to fight in the living area, because the furniture gets wrecked."  He blinked.  "How come you haven't dropped it?"

"It hurts, but I can hold it."  Gendo looked puzzled, and Maiku left the room.  

"No-one can hold the sword, because it vibrates so much.  No-one knows why."

"Have they ever asked it?"

"Asked it?"

"If it can distinguish between people, it's intelligent.  Therefore, it can probably talk.  Ask it."  Gendo looked puzzled, but laid it on the table.

"Sword, reveal your secret!"  Nothing happened.

"Maybe you should try flattering it," joked Jenny.

"Go on then."  Jenny looked at him.

"I didn't mean-"

"Go on."

"How come everyone around here is so forceful?  Okay…Oh Beautiful Sword, please reveal your secret to us!"  The air on the opposite side of the table blurred, and a man in a bright orange suit appeared.  He had impeccable black hair and tanned skin, and when he smiled, they noticed his slightly pointed canines.  Also, his ears were slightly more pointed and higher on the head than those of normal humans.

"Really?  Beautiful?  You think so?" he preened.  "Wait, I gotta see for myself…"  He pulled a hand mirror out of thin air and studied it intently.  "WAAAAAAAAH!  I'm lookin' niiiiiiiiice!"  He beamed at them.  "Wait a minute, how'm I lookin' now?"  He checked again.  "I'm still lookin' nice!  My hair's lookin' nice, my clothes're lookin' nice…hell, even my shadow's lookin' nice.  I'm better than nice!  I'm Smooooooth, with a capital Smoo!  I'm-"

"_Who_ the _hell_ are you?"

"Whoa, take a chill pill, pal."  The apparition pulled himself up straight.  "I am Bagdial, Angel of Styyyyyle.  Put away that scalpel, no improvements are _possible_!  I am a plastic surgeons _nightmare_!"

"Okay.  Why does the sword vibrate when most people hold it?"

"I can't be associated with an uncool ninja!"  Bagdial looked shocked at the very idea.

"Why didn't you vibrate very hard when I held the sword?" put in Jenny.

"Well, you're cool, but not a ninja.  I'm only supposed to allow ninja to use the sword.  If you had been older, I'd have let you," he grinned lecherously.  Jennifer closed her dressing gown up around her chin and glared.

"Why were you in the sword anyway?"

"Some old guy in a dress told me to."

"Which old guy, and why?"  Gendo was beginning to get a very clear idea of who Bagdial was.

"Um, something like Yahweh, Jehovah, something like that, because I went with this guy called Lucifer.  But I left because all my suits clashed with the décor, and it was so hot they were all sweat stained all the time.  I just couldn't live like that.  Anyway, he said that as a punishment, I had to live in this _tiny_ apartment and wait for some guy called Kendo."

"Gendo?" asked Gendo as Jennifer looked on from behind her dressing-gown.

"Yeah!"

"That's me.  What do you have to do now?"

"I have no idea.  I'll go and find out!"  Bagdial stood, saluted, and slinked out of the room, before disappearing.

"Well, that was bizarre," said Gendo.  He glanced at Jenny, who was still glaring.  He nudged her.  "Kettle's boiled.  Were you making a cup of tea?"  He glanced at her again.  "I'll make it."  He walked into the kitchen again.  "Milk?"

"Yes please," mumbled Jenny.

"One lump or two?"

"One."

"Sugar?"

"Ye…WHAT!?"

"You noticed quickly.  Most people don't notice until I point it out to them, if at all."  He grinned.  "You'd better get ready for school.  It's nearly eight o'clock."

Thirty minutes later, Dave stood by the door.  "WE'RE LEAVING NOW!  COME _ON_!"  Gendo slid down the banister, followed by Jenny and the Twins.  Ten seconds later, Vlad followed, hitting the end and with a sickening thud.  

"Ouch," said all the males in the building.  

"Maria'll be disappointed," added Dave.  The Twins giggled.  "Where is Reiko?" he asked, exasperated once again.  They waited.  Dave picked up a pencil.  He tossed it into the air.  He caught it.  He snapped it.  He threw it to the ground and jumped up and down on it, before screaming "REIKOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  GET DOWN HERE, NOW!!"  Finally, she walked downstairs, and without a word, walked past them to the car.

The packed Cadillac pulled up at the school gates.  Reiko took one last look at herself in the mirror.  Gendo and Vlad both leapt over the windscreen, flipped in midair, and landed perfectly.  The Twins ran out to talk to their friends – they were the only team-members not to be new at the school.  Jennifer followed nervously.  Maiku stood up, leapt, flipped twice and landed on the shoulders of Gendo and Vlad.  Without looking at them, he walked into school.  They shrugged and followed him.

All went well until midway through the last lesson – English.

"Gendo, your spelling is atrocious!" said the teacher, a skinny woman who looked as if she was expecting the Queen's Telegram any day now. "At least your handwriting makes up for it, but there's no excuse!"

"There _is_.  Like I said.  English isn't my first language.  Is it my fault you have such stupid spelling?"

"There's no excuse," she repeated.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" came a sudden yowl.  An orange whirlwind burst through the door.  "I'm back!  How'm I looking?"  He checked himself over, and screamed.  "A crease!"  He produced a tiny iron and dealt with the problem.

"Who are you?" asked the teacher.

"I'm-"

"My uncle," interrupted Jennifer.  "He's a fashion designer.  But he's a bit eccentric.  I don't know what he's doing here."  She glared at him.

"Well, what _are_ you doing here, Mr…"

"Bagdial."

"It's French," explained Jessica.

"Pierre Bagdial.  Haven't you heard of him?" asked Rebecca.

"No.  What are you doing here, Mr Bagdial?"  Just as Bagdial was about to answer, another figure rushed through the door.  Bagdial went pale.

"Oh no!  It's him!"

"Mr Bagdial, what are you doing?" asked the figure.  He turned to the teacher and held out a hand.  "Anthony J. Crowley.  Business Manager, Bagdial Designs Ltd.  I'm afraid Mr Bagdial decided that he had to see his niece, and when he gets these ideas in his head, nothing can stop him.  Come along, sir.  You can talk to Jennifer after school finishes.  It won't be long."

"No, don't leave me alone with him!" cried Bagdial, as he was propelled out of the door.  The teacher looked puzzled.

"Anthony Crowley… A.J. Crowley…why does that seem familiar?" she muttered repeatedly.  The bell rang.  "You may go," she said distractedly.

"Alright, who are you?" asked Gendo.

"I said.  Anthony Crowley."

"I know who A.J. Crowley is.  Who are you really?" said Jessica.  He looked around nervously.

"Jikariel.  The Angel of Shadows.  I've been sent to aid Bagdial in his mission, because he's such an incompetent fool he can't do it alone."

"How did you know our cover story?"

"I'm not the only one to use telepathy, you know.  Do you know a Mr Wilson?"

"He's the head teacher.  Why?" answered the Twins.

"That teacher is attracted to him," answered Jikariel seriously.  Everyone, including the still-pained Vlad, fell about laughing.

"How are you getting back to your base?"  Everyone looked at each other.

"We walk," answered Maiku shortly.  Reiko rolled her eyes, but a glare from Jennifer put a stop to whatever she was about to say, and they set off towards a bus-stop.

In a cavern that was much larger than this world and everything in it, and at the same time much smaller, a dark figure watched an image of the team as they headed across London.

"So, he reached them.  Well.  It will not do them any good.  There will merely be a slight…delay."  Lazily, he raised a hand and snapped his fingers.  The image disappeared.  The figure smiled nastily, the kind of smile that hangs around in jungles waiting for people to smile at.  The kind of smile that can detect a drop of blood in many tonnes of seawater.  The kind of smile that, when a person is smiled at by it, that person will consider him or herself lucky not to survive long enough to be smiled at like that again.  They usually didn't.

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**Not as long as I thought it would be.  But I took so long writing this chapter due to boredom and lack of creativity I couldn't remember everything I was going to put in.  R+R, and go on to Chapter 4.  Bagdial is, obviously to anyone who has watched the series, the Cat from Red Dwarf.  The smile joke was, ahem, "borrowed" from a friend.  Sorry, Taichou…**


	4. Dark Sun Rising

_Hoshigumi - Watashi Ni! _

"Right," said Kaede as the teenagers and their angelic companions walked into the building.  "We'll move into the new base on September the 30th.  Sakura Shinguji will be attending the ceremony with her great-granddaughter, who'll be joining the team, and the Royal Family will be there too."  She looked up from her clipboard.  "Who are they?  You know you can't bring civilians into a military base!"

"They're Angels," stated Gendo calmly.

"Oh right.  You'll each need to fill in one of these forms," she said, passing pieces of paper around, "to let the decorators know how you want your own house decorated.  ANGELS?"

"Yeah," replied Jessica.  "The one in the bad suit-"

"Hey, I'll have you know that I am the coolest person in all known universes!" interrupted Bagdial.

"-Lived in Gendo's sword, and the other one is his…"

"Aide-de-camp," put in Jikariel smoothly.  "Jikariel, Angel of Shadows, Hunter of Souls, also known as Nemesis, also known as the Grim Reaper and all permutations thereof, although I use a spear, not a scythe, also known as Mr Anthony James Crowley, at your service, ma'am.  This," indicating the coiffed one, "is Bagdial, Angel of Style, also known as Pierre Bagdial, fashion designer."

"General Kaede Ichirou, commander-in-chief, International Anti-Demon Defence Force, MP."

"MP?"

"Member of Parliament.  I'm the cabinet minister for the Force."

"Ah.  Of course.  May I see your Mechs?  I'm sorry, I don't know what you call them now."

"Um, at the moment we're using Tenbu and Eisencrite shells with new systems, and we're in the process of moving the systems into the new units.  They should be ready by the end of the month.  This way, please."  Kaede led the Angels to the hanger.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, a teenage girl awoke in fright.  She fought to stop herself screaming, and looked around the room nervously.

"Obaa-chama!  What are you doing in here?"

"You had a nightmare, Kimiko.  I came to comfort you."

"But you were in here before I woke."

"Well, your mind was so loud I couldn't help it.  I wouldn't get a wink of sleep even if I wanted to."  

"Why do I keep having these nightmares, Obaa-chama?"

"They have returned."

"Who?"

"Them.  The Kouma.  But this time, they are different.  No Tenkai.  Someone else leads them."

"The Bringer of Light."

"That is correct.  The one that Christians call the Adversary, or Beelzebub, although that name is incorrect.  Beelzebub is lesser to Him, the Twelve-Winged Angel.  _Lucifer.  And at the end of the month, you will go and fight the Kouma, and then - and only then – will your nightmares cease."_

"But Obaa-chama, what can I do about them until then."

"Tomorrow, you start your search for Arataka and the Cherry Blossom Spirit Attack.  Until then…well…"

"What?"

"When I became a grandmother, I made a list of wise advice to give.  None of this will help, but something a friend of mine once said will."

"What is it?"

"You must be patient, Kimiko.  She said, "When all else fails, hit something with something."  You should try that."  With that, Sakura Shinguji left the room.

Several weeks later, in London.

"Hey Gendo.  What do you think about having a huge party, our last night in the prefabs before moving into the dome?  Sarah and I are thinking of forming a band," Dave told the ninja.  "She'll play drums, I'll play either bass or lead guitar, and we were hoping you'd sing?"

"Me?  Sing?"

"I've heard you singing in your room, so don't deny it."

"Yes, maybe.  But I'd feel foolish singing in front of people."

"Just imagine everyone in their underwear.  Apparently it works, but I've never had to meself."

"Will Jennifer be there?" queried Gendo seriously.

"Yeah, of course.  Why?"

"Then I do it.

"You pervert!" spluttered Dave.

"I prefer term "Hentai no Otaku.""

"And what does that mean?"

"Hentai mean pervert, perversion or pornography, anything like that.  No is roughly equivalent to English "'s" or "of."  Otaku is fan, often obsessed fan, for example of computer game or TV show."

"So, "Fan of Perversion.""

"But it sounds better than English, when you say in Japanese."

"Never mind…  Look, do you know a guitarist?"

"Yes.  Vlad.  He plays song and I sing.  We do Aero Smith songs often.  Sarah call us Toxic Twins.  What does this mean?"

"It was the nickname for Steve Tyler and Joe Perry – you know, singer and guitarist for Aerosmith – because they did so many drugs.  I think it suits you," Dave added dryly.

"We do no drugs.  Only Aero Smith songs."

"No, because you act like twins.  And like Aerosmith."

"Oh.  I see."

"Well, ask Vlad, and tell me by tonight.  Our last night is only a few days away."

Gendo cast one last, nervous – although he would never admit it – glance around the other members of what had become known as "his" band, although it had been Dave's idea.  Vlad and Sarah were both dressed as they normally did, Vlad in black, and Sarah in her mixture of kilt and punk paraphernalia.  Dave was dressed like he had just walked off the set of The Crow.  Gendo had reluctantly accepted the help of the Divine Duo, Bagdial and Jikariel – which latter was, surprisingly, a fierce opponent of Nu-Metal. He had ended up looking like he would have done if he hadn't accepted their help, but more expensive.  He glanced around the curtain that covered the door.  Outside was a small stage in front of the car park, which had been covered with  a huge tent in case of rain.  Gesturing for the others to follow, he walked onto the stage.

"AAAAAALL RIGHT!  Everyone is going to listen to us, and then and only then can you go over to the bar and get completely pissed.  Except you can't.  Because there are under-eighteen-year-olds here.  And we don't have a bar, only a fridge.  Never mind!  We're gonna do some requests!  Let's see…you – no, not you.  You're ugly…yeah, you!"  A midget in the mosh pit mumbled something.  "Well, whaddaya know, we were gonna do that anyway!  One, two, three, FOUR!"

Three hours later, Vlad played the closing riff to Black Sabbath's Paranoid.

"THANK YOU GOOD NIGHT WE LOVE YOU ALL!  Except you, you're ugly," he added hastily to the young lady whose underwear had been repeatedly removed from the stage that they were in the process of leaving.

"Vlad," commented Dave.  "They don't use catgut for guitar strings any more.  If they did, any cat would be happy to die to become part of your guitar."  Gendo agreed, his voice retuning from the bizarre accent he had used onstage to his usual calm, "grammatically enlightened" Oxford English, slightly more hoarse than it had been three and a half hours ago.  Onstage, Vlad had been slightly less active than a cat with St Vitus' Dance that had been pumped full of caffeine.  Dave had been content to stand at one side, headbanging.

"Ve haff to do zat again.  Zat voss blotty amazink!"

"Vlad, I advise you not to wear leather next time.  It gets a bit too hot when you're that active.  All your makeup is running," said Sarah.  "You should wear an oil based one, then it won't run as much."

"Excuse me?  You the band?"

"If you're going to complain, no," Dave said, turning.  "If, however, you want to give us large amounts of money, then yes."

"Close," said the girl who had approached them.  "My uncle runs a club near hear.  Phone this number and tell him Steph told you to," she informed them, handing a card to Dave.  "I'll warn him first.  What's your name and whose band is it?"

"It's D-"

_It's not my band.  It's your band, Dave told him mentally._

_You liar!  It is yours._

_No!  Just watching you tonight I can see you're better at frontmanning than I am.  I'm just good at playing. Anything._

"It's _my band," Gendo told Steph.  "We don't have a name yet."_

"Fine.  I'll tell my uncle you're calling."

"Well, we'll need songs," said Dave later that night.  "We can't _just do covers.  We'll need at least forty-five minutes of our own stuff.  I have three songs, at…fifteen minutes, maybe more if Vlad does a long solo."_

"I haff two sonks.  Um, ten minutes total."

"I can write one.  I've got a few ideas," Sarah told them.

"Same here.  At stretch."

"Well, we need at _least another ten minutes of music, unless either of you does a Free Bird.  What about a name?  What are our songs called?  We can make it eponymous."  Vlad's were "Dark Sun Rising" and "Paranoid Insomniac."  Dave's were "Birth of a God," "One-winged Angel" and "I Want You to Know."  Sarah's best partially-complete song was called "In Love's Heat."  Gendo couldn't think of a title, or, even, much of a song._

"Well, what do you say we call ourselves Dark Sun?  Then we can play Dark Sun Rising right away?"  Everyone agreed.  "Great, I'll phone in the morning."

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**Keep reading.  I was gonna do an extra bit at the end her, but decided it would be better at the start of the next chapter.  Dark Sun are going to play a big part in this fic – not only will it be a theatre-scene replacement, instead of the stage performances of the games, but certain things in later chapters couldn't happen without them.  Read on…**


	5. A New Home

_Hoshigumi - Watashi Ni! _

"The Lady Lilith to see you, Milord."

"Send her in, then!"_  A tall woman, her face hidden by a mask featuring a triangle with seven eyes engraved on it, walked into the room._

"Well, stand up, then! Don't you know how to treat a lady?"  The Lord Morningstar hurriedly stood – Lady Lilith was the only being he was scared of in any dimension – or at least, the only one he would admit, even to himself.  "Well?  Why did you want to see me?"

"The next phase of the Plan.  The necessary lifeform is under your jurisdiction."

"Ah.  Them.  Unfortunately, they are extinct."

"WHAT?!"

"Extinct.  Some human killed them off, over a hundred years ago.  Don't tell me you didn't notice?"

"No, of course I didn't.  Why would I?"

"No, you wouldn't.  Anyway, I can restart the race, but I'll need a victim."

"One of the Councillors, maybe?"  

"You and your Council…" Lilith sniffed in disdain.  "What do they _do, anyway?"_

"They are facilitators.  They do my bidding.  Why not a Council member?"

"Spirit energy is needed.  None of the Councillors is suitable.  Well, your facilitators can find me a victim, high in Spirit.  Young usually helps, the body is more likely to survive the transition.  I'll leave the rest up to you."  With that, the Lady Lilith left the Throne Room of the Pit.

The day after the party, Gendo stared at the ceiling, feeling annoyed.  Try as he might, he couldn't complete more than a few lines of any song.  He glanced at the clock by his bed.  He had a few hours to go before the guests for the Grand Opening arrived.  He turned on his laptop and logged on to the Internet.

You have E-mail

He opened his inbox.

FROM: TetsuNoOtome@yahoo.com

TO: GendoKamijin@hoshigumi.gov.uk

**Hi, thought you might need this.  Reply if it's any good, I've got loads.  Enclosed is a MIDI of the tune.  I put the notes for each instrument on as well.**

**Love, Tetsu no Otome XXXXX**

Below that were the lyrics to a song called "Don't Surrender."  He scanned them quickly – below each syllable was the guitar note, bass note, and attached was exactly what TetsuNoOtome had said - a midi of the tune.  He checked out the e-mail again, and saw that she had marked out when each instrument was supposed to begin.

"VLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

"Vow, zis really iss an excellent sonk.  Vot does the name mean?"

"Literally, Maiden of Iron - Iron Maiden."  Vlad picked up his guitar and played a few notes.  Frowning, he flicked a switch, and played them again.

"If you use zer right amp model, it doss sount like Iron Maiten."

"Amp model?"

"Iss thing that copies sount off any type off amp unt makes your guitar sount like it.  For example, if I set zat to "Gibson SG" and zat to "Marshall" it sounts like AC/DC."  He strummed a few bars of "Highway to Hell" to make his point.  "Ozzervise you haff to use different amp for each bant you cuffer.  My fayforite iss the Iron Maiden model."

"Well, what should I do?"

"Vot? You are craysy person?  Keep zer lyrics unt ask for more.  Zen you credit her as Tetsu-No-Voteffer you said if ve effer get an album out.  Oh, unt don't tell _anyvun.  Zey may sink you are cheatink."_

"Obaa-chama, we are nearly there.  _Please tell me where Arataka is!"_

"You know enough about me to know where I have put it.  Think, Kimiko-Chan.  _Think!"  Kimiko Shinguji thought about her grandmother's clue again.  __It is where I can always find it, but it can never be stolen.  For one moment, Kimiko wondered if it could be hidden in her walking stick.  But as soon as she looked at it, she realised it was too thin._

"Well, here we are, Shinguuji-saama." 

"Sama, Dave-kun.  You make the 'a' sound too long."

"How did you know my name?"

"What?  I am not stupid!  Old, but not senile."  Sakura Shinguji stood up and stepped out of the Cadillac, barely using her stick.  Kimiko watched for a few seconds, then followed glumly.

_I'm a failure.  I can't even find a sword.  A simple, little sword.  And I go and mess it up.  I'm not worthy to be Shinguuji._

_Yes you are.  No one is perfect.  No one gets everything right first time, even your Great-grandmother._

_Who are you?  What are you doing in my head?_

_Gendo Kamijin.  I always monitor psychic energy.  You were practically screaming.  Think laterally.  What is always all around everyone?_

_…Air?  Gendo said no more.  Frowning, Kimiko caught up with her great-grandmother._

The entire Hoshigumi stood at the entrance to the Millennium Dome.  Dave looked very uncomfortable in his dress uniform, which was several sizes too small. Sakura walked slowly across the stage to the microphone and addressed the crowd.

"I am proud to announce the opening of this, the world's most advanced military base."  Dave passed her a small remote control, and she pressed the single button on it.  The roof of the Dome folded away into the sides, leaving only a gate, held shut with a ribbon.  "If you don't mind, I would like my great-granddaughter to cut the ribbon.  Kimiko?"  Kimiko stepped forward and stood facing the door.  She stuck out her right hand.

"Arataka, WATASHI NI!"  The soul-sword, Arataka, materialised in her hand.  Without pausing, she raised it and brought it down on the ribbon, leaving a trail of pink light.

"I now declare the Millennium Base open," said Sakura, with a trace of amusement in her voice.  The whole team, except Kaede, who knew what to expect, stared in amazement.  The Millennium Base didn't look like a military base.  It looked more like a housing estate.  Twenty-five houses stood around a central area.  Each had a small garden behind it and a garage at one side.

"I think I speak for all of us," stated Dave, "when I say…bloody hell."  Several others nodded.

"We thought that, as we don't know how long this war will last," Kaede informed them, "we'd better make the accommodation suitable for adults.   We could have done apartments, but those can't be extended.  In a battle situation, all of the houses will become submerged.  They were each decorated according to your choices a few weeks ago, but feel free to redecorate whenever you like.  I'm only in charge in a battle.  Otherwise, you're all mature enough to look after yourselves…I _hope."_

"Vy are you lookink at me?  Vot haff I done?"

"Here are your keys."  Kaede passed a plastic card to everyone.

"What are these?" asked Rebecca.

"Smart cards.  If you get into a fight because of your job, show this to the police and they'll probably let you off.  Abuse it and I dock your pay.  And you can use it to pay for things, like a credit card.   Your pay goes directly into an account connected to this card, so pay with this for everything you want.  If you want to claim expenses, plug it into your PC and mark the purchase on the file.  If it's for team business, the government'll pay it for.  _Don't loose it, because we might not be able to get your savings back.  And you'll be locked out of the base and your house."_

"Could you by any chance show me your Mechs now," asked Jikariel, manifesting suddenly.  People in the crowd screamed, and Gendo grabbed the microphone.

"Everybody, calm down!  I'd like to welcome our supernatural attaché, the Angel Jikariel."

"Blasphemy!  There is no Angel Jikariel," shouted someone in the crowd.  "That is Satan."

_Oh, god.  A bible-basher, thought Dave._

"Like hell.  If I was Satan, would I appear in the middle of an anti-Demon base?  He isn't stupid.  And neither am I," Jikariel stated archly.  "Anyway, if you know the Bible so well, is there an Angel named Israfel in it?"

"No," replied the God-botherer, clutching a crucifix.

"That's where you're wrong.  Israfel will announce the Day of Judgement and, as such, was mentioned in the Revelation of St. John of Patmos, although not by name. I was edited out.  You can see me in the Director's cut."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"There are four gospels in the New Testament.  Several more were not included in the first copy of the entire Bible, for example, that of Thomas and Mary Magdalene.  I was in the Gospel of…I forget.  Have a look through the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Maybe Peter.  Anyway, the Mechs."

"Of course.  Sarah, could you launch yours, please?"  Sarah nodded and ran into the base.  A minute later, a twelve-foot robot burst out of the ground.  It was less squat than the earlier Mechs, with a missile pod on the left shoulder instead of cannon on each.  Sarah jump-jetted over the crowd, turned in midair and landed beside the rest of the Hoshigumi, then pirouetted.  Finally, she launched a salvo of missiles from its shoulder pod, and let off a burst from her Vulcan cannon, which, as she demonstrated, could be mounted on the wrist or the right shoulder.  The crowed oohed and aahed appropriately, and eventually got bored and went home.  The Hoshigumi set about finding which house went with which key card, as nobody had bothered making a note.  The younger members (everyone under 21) then spent the afternoon attempting to visit every other person on the team, hampered by the fact that it was nearly impossible to time visits correctly – unless you were hoping to visit Maiku or Kimiko, who were standing just between their respective houses talking for six hours straight, until Kaede and Wilhelmina broke up the fun, pointing out that most of the team had school in the morning

_____________________________________________________________________

**Another chapter complete…bloody finally, and all.  The bit about the Bible is true.  Israfel will announce the Day of Judgement, and there were gospels left out.  The new Mech is supposed to look like a Grizzly, for any MechWarrior players out there.  Sorry about the ending, it's a bit, um, crap.  But I wanted to finish it as soon as possible.  (Due to my Internet access being currently more f**ked up than Dale Winton's anal cavity, this chapter will be uploaded at the same time as chapter 4, and, unless I'm careful, chapter 6 as well.  Sorry…)**


	6. Extra-curricular Warfare

_Hoshigumi - Watashi Ni! _

"Could Gendo Kamijin please report to the headmaster after school, Gendo Kamijin to the headmaster after school, thank you!"  Gendo turned to the rest of the team-members in the class – the Twins and Jenny – and looked aggrieved.

"What have I done?"  Jessica giggled at his expression.  Rebecca looked sternly at her sister.  Jennifer, as always, looked innocent.  "It's something to do with you three, I know it.  You're in big trouble if it's anything remotely bad, you know that."  Just then, the bell rang, and the class was in uproar.  Gendo silently disappeared to the office and Jenny turned to the Twins.  

"What did you do?"

"We volunteered him to teach martial arts.  And Vlad is the school's new guitar teacher.  Don't worry, Maiku won't be left out, but he won't tell us anything that he's good at," they informed her.

"I didn't know you talked to him," said Jenny.  

"Oh yeah.  He's really nice when you get to know him.  Plus, he's absolutely gorgeous."

"I'll agree with that last," Jenny said, after some consideration.  "But he isn't nice.  He pulled a sword on me!"

"Actually, you did first.  He just manifested Spirit energy, and you pulled a sword."

"You've been talking to him, haven't you?  Mind asking _why he started charging his energy?_

"Because he was feeling threatened."

"Oh, yeah.  _Brilliant reason to get ready to blow someone's head off.  And turn it into Mick Jagger, holding a Day-Glo green Gibson Explorer with one string missing, with an unidentified large bird on his head and wearing a pair of Y-fronts and a rubber dinghy, in his case.  Maybe he should do classes in Chaos Theory and quantum mechanics," she added, after a moment's thought._

"Nah," said Rebecca.  "Not nasty enough."

"I thought you liked him," Jenny asked.

"We do.  But liking someone is _not a reason to be nice to them," pointed out Jessica seriously._

"You two are weird."  Reaching the yard, they went to walk home with Kimiko.

"Do I need to say it again?  My skills are not the type of things that should be taught to irresponsible pupils.  Teachers will be in fear for their lives."

"You don't need to teach all of your skills, just…the safer ones."

"They _are the safer ones.  I could bring down a large building with the more dangerous ones, given a few minutes."_

"Perhaps I haven't made myself clear.  You _will do these classes, or you will mysteriously fail your GCSE's…miserably and repeatedly.  Understand."_

"Yes sir," said Gendo resignedly.  Inwardly, however, he was grinning.

"You will all be expected to go to these training classes," said Kaede.  "Gendo and the adults are the only ones with the level of ability required for the team."

_You are  pervy git.  Now you get to see Jenny in Gi.  I am not stupid, I know vy you do zis._

_My friend, I am shocked you can stand there and make such an unfair accusation.  I would never watch a girl change-_

_But half naked and sweating iss not changink, iss it?  Now you haff gut excuse. Vell, qvite gut._

_You'll be going?_

_Off course.  I may pull a few girls viz my hunky body.  Vlad transmitted an image of Vlad's head on a wrestlers body.  Gendo pulled an image of an extremely skinny person in huge boxer shorts from his memory and replaced the head with Vlad's, then sent it back.  Vlad turned red._

_Anyway, I thought you had Maria._

_Ah, iss not so gut.  All she want iss sex._

_And…that's bad?_

_You shut see how she vant me to dress, zo.  Zis bissarre lezzer zink.  Ack!_

_You always wear leather._

_Not lezzer like zis.  I vood look like Marilyn Manson, but less masculine.  Ack!_

_You should go out with one of the Twins.  I think they'd suit you._

_Ah, nyet.  I have competition there.  They both like zat new guy, Maiku._

_Ah, said a third voice.  __Competition isn't a bad thing.  In this case, the Twins are getting an excellent deal, because Vlad and Maiku will try to outdo each other._

_Jenny, asked Gendo.  __How'd you receive a private conversation?_

_You're a good teacher._

_Teacher?  I didn't teach you any telepathic skills._

_You use astral projection every night, and I watch._

_Hah!  You are__ pervert!  I knew it!_

_NO! shouted both Gendo and Jenny._

_That's just…_

_Eew.  No offence, said Jenny._

_None taken._

_Same here.  Just…Gendo watching me…eew._

_Me watching Jenny…  Gendo fought very hard to stifle a nosebleed.  He had worked hard to build up and maintain his image, and was the most wanted man in the school by the girls' standards, and he wasn't going to let a simple matter of blood pressure spoil it.  He decided he would have to swoop soon.  __That's just wrong__.  No offence.  Anyway, how do you know about competition?_

_Kaede signed me up for Economics.  Why are we still telepathising?  Everyone's gone._

"Good point," said Gendo, leaving the mental link.  Vlad and Jenny followed suite.  _I'm going to ask her out soon, he told Vlad._

"You cheat!  You were talking about me - I know it!  You waited until I left the link!"

"Don't vorry.  Iss not bad sing.  Wery gut sing for bose of you.  OWW!"

"No further now.  Or I'll hurt you some more," said Gendo, putting pressure on Vlad's wrist.  Jenny stifled a giggle.

"Right, before you warm up, I want you to tell me what you know about martial arts," said Gendo, almost a week later.

"Err, you get to kick peoples guts out," said someone at the back of the group.

"Why would you want to do that?  That would be dishonourable.  Next!"

"You use your mental energy to fight."

"Good."  He looked to see who had spoken.  It was Jessica.

"We did a project about Japan a few years ago, and I read a book about religion and martial arts and stuff," she explained.

"Swot!" someone shouted.  It was the same person who had spoken earlier.

"You.  Come here.  If you know so much about martial arts, we will fight one-on-one."  Several people paled – the boy he challenged was at least 6'4'', and probably twice Gendo's weight.  Two people didn't – Gendo, because he knew his own abilities, and Jessica, because she had watched him train with her sister and Jenny, and knew his strength better than anyone else.  The other two had just been looking at him, not his fighting.  "Bow," ordered Gendo.  Both combatants did so.  Gendo straightened up quickly, backflipping and throwing himself forward feet-first, catching his opponent full in the jaw.  The force of the impact knocked him back – obviously, he was heavier than Gendo had expected.  Gendo jumped forward, catching his opponent with several open-handed punches.  He was shocked to find himself picked up and thrown across the room.  Jessica paled.  Gendo staggered to his feet and remained doubled over.

"Gendo!  Concede!  Give him a friendly handshake!" cried Jessica.  His opponent approached him and stood just behind and to one side of Gendo, waiting for him to stand up again.  Now Gendo went into action.  He drove his elbow backwards hard and felt a rib crack under the force.  He then brought his fist up into the face of his enemy, breaking his nose.  He then span and kicked the gibbering wreck in the back of the knees, knocking him to the ground.  

  He stood with his back to the floored titan, waiting for a comment. Finally, it came.

"You said…you…conceded."

"I did no such thing.  Jessica suggested a tactic, disguising it as a plea for my safety."

"I wasn't sure if you had read the books yet."

"Of course.  Vimes is my favourite character."

"Same here," said Jessica.  For a minute they looked at each other, then Jessica looked away.  _Gendo could outstare Granny Weatherwax, she decided, __let alone a snake.  Snakes would blink__ just to get away from that stare._

"What's your name?" he asked the lump of quivering flesh on the floor.

"Dud…dud…Dudley…Batree."

"Can you walk?"

"Ye-"

"Then get out and don't bother coming back."

The next few weeks passed quickly.  Vlad finally broke up with Maria, much to her disappointment.  Gendo finished the twenty-seven books that Jessica lent him in record time.  Jessica emerged as the self-defence class's top pupil, with Jennifer scoring the equivalent of a B – her grade in everything for the last eight years.  Gendo asked Jennifer to the Hallowe'en dance, but was told that there was someone else she wanted to go with.  Dave got Dark Sun a series of weekly gigs starting in the New Year, every Friday night for six months, and Sarah organised for the band to play at the aforementioned Hallowe'en dance.  Finally, Thursday October 31, the day of the much-awaited dance, arrived.

"Tell me again why your school is having a Hallowe'en dance?"

"Because the headmaster is American.  You think that's bad, well, we're having a Prom in July." Sarah rolled her eyes.  Dave climbed into the Cadillac, followed by Jennifer.  She was wearing a long blue skirt and a white lacy top.

"You look great, Jenny," said Gendo.

"You're too late.  I told you, I have a date already."

"Oh, he asked you?"  Jennifer squirmed.

"Not…exactly."

"You asked him?"

"Well, again, not _exactly.  Can we change the subject please?"_

"Sorry."

"Don't worry, I'll introduce you when we get there.  And you might want to dedicate a song to Jessica.  She was very annoyed when you didn't ask her."

"I didn't know she wanted me to.  Anyway, I've got to sing all night."

"Well, she didn't know that.  And for someone so supposedly intelligent, you are very dense," she said, with a little too much force.  They sat in silence for the rest of the trip.  Finally, Dave pulled up next to Vlad's brand-new, second-hand van with "Dark Sun" painted on the side.  Jennifer got out, followed by Gendo.

"Come here, I'll introduce you to my date," she said, grabbing Gendo and walking towards the school entrance.

____________________________________________________________________

**Ooh, never done a cliff-hanger before.  I'll wait a while before posting the next chapter, I think…  About the dig at Manson: I like him, but Vlad doesn't.  Don't argue. And yes, Jessica is a Discworld fan.  So is Rebecca, but she only reads them in the hope that there will be more with Captain Carrot in.  I realise there are only 26 at the moment (I have every single one) but I'm guessing (hoping) there will be another out by then.**


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